#mtlfest at Just for Laughs: In battle of ex-SNL gala hosts, Andy Samberg wins

Andy Samberg hosted the 10 p.m. Just for Laughs gala Thursday, July 24, at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts. Also on the bill: TJ Miller, Noel Fielding, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Heller, K Trevor Wilson, The Lucas Brothers. Reviewers for this gala were Bill Brownstein and Monique Muise.

Click here to see more of Dario Ayala’s photos from the galas so far. We’ll be back again Friday to review the 10 p.m. Mega-stars gala, featuring: Lewis Black, Tommy Tiernan, Ron White, Loni Love, Shaun Majumder, Kathleen Madigan and Marc Maron.

OVERALL

BB: What a breath of fresh air after Chevy Chase phoned it in – on a 1950s rotary, no less – at the earlier Friday night gala. Andy Samberg is clearly iPhone generation and, more importantly, he has a pulse. His skits weren’t the strongest – not his doing – but he kept proceedings going. Didn’t hurt that the first act was the deliriously deadpan Canuck K. Trevor Wilson, who managed to get 10 hilarious minutes out of Cap’n Crunch cereal. Really. Also have to love the martini-dry wit of the laconic Lucas Brothers, the ever-original Kumail Nanjiani and madman closer TJ Miller. Not even a few arid spots in the middle could detract from the chuckles.

MM: This was what a gala should be. Committed host, sensational comedians to back him up and an audience that seemed impossible to displease.

HOST

BB: No, Samberg didn’t do any videos with Justin Timberlake, but he did re-hash an alleged set from a tryout for the 2004 Just for Laughs fest – for which he was rejected. The kid has come a long way. Unlike Chevy, he didn’t fumble his lines from the teleprompter, and when the writers foisted a second Victor the laff-fest mascot sketch on him, he turned on them, pretty much insinuating they had gone to the well once too often. Good on him. Dick in the Box is one thing; Dick in a Green Suit just doesn’t cut it.

MM: Samberg showed up and he had fun and he did everything in his power to ensure that the audience had fun – and at a Just for Laughs gala, that’s everything. Even when jokes fell flat the SNL alumnus scooped up the remnants and gave them new life, making Chevy Chase, decades his senior, look like an amateur. HIGHLIGHTS

BB: Could have taken an hour of Wilson on the old Cap’n: “The delicious cereal that hurts your face. It has three ingredients: sugar, crack cocaine and fibreglass.” Lucas twins on conversation between Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. Nanjiani on the trauma of seeing Elephant Man at 8 and his Twitter vs. Literature game. To wit: “Surrounded by MILFs at Taco Bell” isn’t Shakespeare. And if Wilson could do 10 minutes on Cap’n Crunch, well, Miller could do 10 minutes on the inventor of peanut butter and another five minutes of lunacy on the joys of Evian moisturizer – with a method and message to the madness. Like Wilson, he slayed.

MM: This was like watching an Olympic final. It’s not so much who’s the best, but who’s the best of the best. First, the (identical) Lucas Brothers: Basically like watching the same hilarious dude in surround-sound. But the night’s winner was K. Trevor Wilson, who kicked off the gala with a brilliant set that referenced, among other things, the horrors of the Canadian winter and the absentee father that is the Canadian spring (“You’re just waiting on the porch…”). LOWLIGHTS

BB: Noel Fiedling, looking a lot like Rod Stewart, did about 10 minutes on being bitten by a jellyfish – but not so biting an act. Emily Heller talked about making the transition from a loser in adolescence to a loser in adulthood – which fell flat. Oh yeah, Samberg crooned an X-rated tune for the latecomers. That will learn them – not!

MM: Even Paul F. Tompkins’ choice of attire (a Colonel Sanders-inspired three-piece suit) was a bit out of place, and the comedy itself was underwhelming. Still, it’s hard to say if he was bad or just less good than the rest of a very strong field.

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